Tyler W. Black: Taxation debate fair, but stick to facts

June 1, 2012

A letter writer from Margate states that her hard earned dollars are taxed at a higher rate than Mr. Romney's.

Whether high income people should pay more in taxes seems to be a fair debate. However, this constant notion that working people are taxed at a higher rate than 15 percent (the tax rate for capital gains) is bogus. The way this writer described herself assumes a family with children with or whitout a husband. She may or may not have a mortgage or property tax deduction.

I respectfully ask her to take out her 2011 tax return and determine what percent of her unadjusted gross income went to federal taxes? I would be extremely surprised if totaled more than the 15 percent Mr. Romney pays.

Again, we can discuss if the very rich should pay more tax, but please stop the misinformation of working people paying taxes at a higer tax rate than 15 percent.